Article carrier



April 28, 1964 E. L. ARNESON ARTICLE CARRIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMarch 2, 1962 INVENTOR. Eda/72 Z. d/"rzeaa 76,

A ril 28, 1964 E. L. ARNESON ARTICLE CARRIER .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledMarch 2, 1962 INVENTOR.

[ail/ml. flrlzesarz, BY MMWM Mm United States Patent 3,130,861 ARTICLECARRIER Edwin L. Arneson, Morris, Ill, assignor to Federal Paper Boardtlompany, line, Bogota, N1, a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 2,1962, Ser. No. 176,986 12 Claims. (Cl. 220-113) This invention relatesto article carriers of the type which are formed from a single blank offoldable sheet material and designed to provide, when set up, aplurality of cells for articles, such as bottled beverages, withadequate provision for supporting and separating the articles in thecells.

(lhe general type of carrier here involved is characterized by a bottomwall, opposed pairs of upstanding, laterally spaced side walls, endwalls connecitng the vertical edges of the side walls, a longitudinalpartition and handle structure extending in a vertical plane between theend walls and parallel to the side walls, and cross partitions which aredisposed in longitudinally spaced, vertical planes and are integrallyhinged on vertical fold lines to the respective side walls and to thelongitudinal partition and handle structure, the latter dividing thecompartments on opposite sides of the longitudinal partition and handlestructure into a plurality of cells to receive therein the articles tobe carried.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a strong andrugged carrier of the type described which is formed from a minimum ofmaterial and which has longitudinal and cross partition panels extendingbetween each cell and the adjoining cells so as to provide at least onethickness of material for separating the bottles in each of theadjoining cells.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a cellulararticle carrier of the type described in which the cross partitions aretaken from elongate longitudinal partition forming panels which areintegrally hinged to the end wall panel-s at one end of the carrier andwhich are secured to the end wall panels at the other end of the carrierby a pair of relatively narrow cooperating longitudinal partition panelsintegrally hinged thereto, with the longitudinal partition panels havingtheir top margins sandwiched between a pair of handle forming panelswhich are hinged to one of the longitudinal partition panels on avertical hinge line and which have portions reinforcing the hingedconnections of the cross partitions with the longitudinal partitionpanels.

It is another object of the invention to provide a cellular articlecarrier of the type described having cross partition forming panels cutfrom longitudinal partition forming panels which are integrally hingedto the end wall panels at one end of the carrier and having a handleconstruction formed by foldable panels which are taken from the one sideedge of the blank, with foldable handle reinforcing panels which aretaken from the area adjoining the handle panels.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an article carrier ofthe type described wherein the cross partitions are cut fromlongitudinal partition torming panels at one end of the blank and alongitudinal partition reinforcing panel hinged to the end of the onelongitudinal partition panel which reinforcing panel is adapted to befolded onto the longitudinal partition panel to which it is hinged sothat the free marginal portion thereof extends into the area between thecenter cells, whereby to cover at least in part the openings left bycutting therefrom the cross partitions so as to separate the articles inthe center cells.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide an articlecarrier of the type described which is formed from a rectangular blankadapted to be cut so that suc- 3,13%,851 Patented Apr. 28, 1964 icecessive blanks may be nested and a plurality of the blanks may be cuttrom a web with a minimum of waste material.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparenttrom a consideration of the article carrier which is shown by way ofillustration in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an article carrier having embodiedtherein the principal features of the invention, the carrier being shownin set up empty condition;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical, longitudinal section taken on the line 22 ofFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical, transverse section taken on the line 3-3 ofFIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical, transverse section taken on the line 4-4 ofFIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a partial vertical, longitudinal section taken on the line5-5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the inside face of the prepared blank fromwhich the carrier is formed, the view showing glue applied to certainareas of the blank preliminary to executing the initial foldingoperation;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of a portion of the blank shown in FIGURE 6illustrating the first folding and gluing operations;

[FlGU RE 8 is a plan view of the partially folded blank followingcertain additional folding and gluing operations; and

FIGURE 9 is a plan view of the completed carrier in knocked downcondition.

Referring to the drawings, the form of the carrier which is illustratedis fabricated from a paperboard blank 10 which is generally rectangularand which is cut and creased or scored as shown in FIGURE 6. The blank10 is divided into a bottom forming section 11, two wall and partitionforming sections 12 and 13, with the latter extending on opposite sidesof the bottom forming section 11, and a handle forming section 14 at oneside edge of the blank.

The bottom forming section 11 of the blank is separated from theadjoining wall and partition forming sections 12 and 13 by parallel,laterally spaced crease lines 15 and 15' which terminate at their endsat the transverse cutting lines 16 and 17 which define the ends of thebottom wall forming panel 18, the latter being subdivided by alongitudinally extending crease line 20 into two foldable half panels 21and 21. The bottom wall forming panel 18 is notched at 22 at one end ofthe median score line 20.

The side wall and partition forming sections 12 and 13 of the blank arecut and creased in a similar manner to provide a pair of side wallforming panels 23 and 23' and pairs of end wall forming panels 24, 25and 24, 25' which are separated from the side wall forming panels 23 and23' by parallel crease lines 26, 27 and 26', 27, which crease linesextend transversely of the blank and in longitudinally spaced relation.The end wall panels 24, 24 and 25, 25' extend to transverse crease lines28, 28 and 30, 30' which are parallel with and equally spaced from thetransverse crease lines 26, 26' and 27, 27'. The blank sections 12 and13 are out along their outer side edges on the lines 31, 31 which definethe top edges of the side wall panels 23, 23 and the end wall panels 24,24' and 25, 25'. At the one end of the blank the sections 12 and 13 arecut to provide relatively narrow, longitudinal partition forming panelsor strips 32 and 32'. The end wall forming panels 24 and 24 and theadjoining longitudinal partition panels or strips 32 and 32' are cut onlongitudinally extending lines 33 and 33' which are aligned with thecrease lines 15 and 15' and which form the bottom edges of the panels24, 24' and 32, 32. I-Iook formations 34 and 34 are cut in the end edgesof the blank adjacent the bottom ends of the panels 32 and 32'.

The blank sections 12 and 13 are cut and scored or creased at the otherend of the blank to provide longitudinal partition panels 35 and 35which extend in the longitudinal direction of the blank beyond thetransverse crease lines 30 and 3%, on which these panels are hingedlyconnected to the end wall panels 25 and 25. The blank is cut on thetransversely spaced, longitudinally extending, parallel lines 36 and 36'which are parallel with the score lines 15 and 15' and ofiset slightlytherefrom in the direction of the side edges of the blank and which formthe bottom edges of the end wall panels 25, and the longitudinalpartition panels 35,

Cross partition panels 37 and 37 are cut in the longitudinal partitionpanels 35 and 35' so as to be foldable out of the plane of the latter.These panels are formed by cutting on generally U-shaped lines 38 and38' with the ends of the cutting lines being connected by transversecrease lines 40 and 40' which are aligned with each other, which areparallel with the transverse crease lines 39 and 30' andwhich are spacedfrom the latter a distance equal to the spacing between the crease lines27, 27 and 3t), 3h. The cross partition panels 37 and 37' are cut andcreased so as to provide glue flap or glue tab formations 41 and 41'which are adapted to hinge on transverse crease lines 42 and 42, thelatter being parallel with the crease lines 40 and 40 and being spacedtherefrom the same distance as the distance between the crease lines 30,3t) and 4t 40.

The one cross partition panel 37' has its glue tab forming portion 41cut from a cross partition forming panel 43 which is in turn derivedfrom the end portion of the longitudial partition panel 35'. The crosspartition panel 43 is freed from the remainder of the panel 35' by thelongitudinal cutting line 44 and adapted to hinge on the transversecrease line 45, the latter being aligned with the crease line 42'. Thelongitudinally extending cutting line 44 is aligned with the one leg ofthe cutting line 38 so that a top portion 46 of the longitudinalpartition panel 35 remains for connecting to the handle panels when thecarrier is glued and folded. The cross partition panel 43 is provided onits outer free edge with a glue tab 47 which is adapted to hinge about atransverse crease line 48, the latter being spaced from the hingeforming crease line the same distance as between the crease line 45 andthe transverse crease line 40 or twice the distance between the creaselines 39 and 45.

The longitudinal partition panel 35 in the blank section 13 has areinforcing extension panel 49 which is separated therefrom by atransverse crease line 56, with the latter being parallel to thetransverse crease line 30 and being spaced therefrom a distancecorresponding to the length of the side wall forming panel 23. A crosspartition panel 51 is cut from the longitudinal partition reinforcingpanel 49 on a generally Ushaped cutting line 52 which is of the samecharacter as the cutting line 38 but faces in the opposite direction.The cross partition panel 51 is adapted to hinge about a transversecrease line 53 which connects the ends of the cutting line 52 and whcihis parallel with and spaced from the transverse crease line 59 the samedistance as between the crease lines 27 and 36. The cross partitionpanel 51 is provided with a glue tab formation 54 which is cut from thematerial in the outer end of the longitudinal partition panel 35 andwhich is adapted to hinge about a transverse crease line 55, the latterbeing parallel with and spaced from the crease line 53 the same distanceas between the crease lines 46 and 42.

The handle forming section 14 at the one side of the blank 10 is cut andscored or creased to provide inner and outer handle panels 56 and 57which are foldable about a longitudinally extending crease line 58 withthe latter being parallel to and spaced outwardly of the center portionof the cutting line 31. The inner handle panel 56 is connected on thehinge forming crease line 60 to a laterally extending portion 61 of thelongitudinal partition panel 35, with the crease line 60 forming anextension of the transverse crease line 30. The inner handle panel 56 isfreed from the adjoining side and end wall panels 23 and 25 by thecutting line 31 except at two points 62 and 63 where the blank ispartially cut through or perforated so as to permit separation bybreaking the perforations in the setting up of the carrier. A handlereinforcing partition 64 is separated from the innermost handle panel 56by the hinge forming, transversely extending crease line 65, which isparallel with the crease line 60, and freed from the outermost handlepanel 57 by the cutting line 66 which is aligned with the crease line65. The handle reinforcing panel 64 is divided by a longitudinallyextending crease line 67 which is parallel with and slightly offsettowards the center of the blank relative to the crease line 58, intoinner and outer panels 68 and 69. The two handle panels 56 and 57 areprovided with hand holes 76 and 70' which are adapted to align when thepanels 56 and 57 are folded about the crease line 58. The outermosthandle reinforcing panel 69 is provided with a hand hole 71 which isadapted to align with the hand holes 70 and 79' when the carrier is setup and the innermost panel 68 is cut away at 72 for the same purpose.The handle reinforcing panel 64 is freed from the adjacent longitudinalpartition panel 32 on the cutting line 73 which leaves a top extension74 on the partition panel 32. The innermost handle panel 56 is slottedat 75 and 76 and the outermost handle reinforcing panel 69 is slottedalong the outer edge thereof at 77 and 78 so as to provide tab portions81, 82 on the panel 56 and 83, 84 on the panel 69 for a purpose whichwill be described.

The blank 10, when cut and creased, is glued and folded to provide thecarrier which is illustrated in FIG- URE 1. In setting up the carrierafter glue has been applied to the blank portion as shown in FIGURE 6,the one cross partition panel 37 is lifted and the longitudinalpartition reinforcing panel 49 is folded inwardly about the transversecrease line 56 into the position shown in FIGURE 7. The panel 37 is thenfolded down partially overlying the panel 48 and glue is applied to thecross partition tabs 41 and 54. Thereafter, the longitudinal partitionpanels 35 and 35 are folded inwardly about the crease lines 30 and 30,the handle reinforcing panel 64 is folded about the crease line 65 ontothe handle panels 56 and 57, and the end Wall panels 24 and 24 arefolded about the crease lines 26 and 26 which brings the blank into thecondition shown in FIGURE 8. At this point glue is applied as indicatedto the panels 64, 32 and 35'. The lower half of the partially foldedblank, as shown in FIGURE 8, is folded upwardly about the center creaseline 20 in the bottom wall panel 18 and the outer handle panel 57 isfolded inwardly about the crease line '53 to complete the assembly ofthe carrier in collapsed flattened condition as shown in FIGURE 9.

When the carrier is set up it assumes the position shown in FIGURE 1with the cross partition panels 37, 37' and 43, 51 being hinged at theirinner edges to the longitudinal partition structure and extendingoutwardly therefrom to the glue tabs 41, 41' and 47,54 which connect thesame in hinged relation to the side walls 23 and 23'. The longitudinalpartition reinforcing panel 49 extends slightly beyond the center of thecarrier and its marginal end portion provides a divider sufiicient toseparate the articles in the center cells. The main portion of thelongitudinal panel 35 provides a partition between the two end cells atthe one end of the carrier suflicient to separate the articles placedtherein. At the other end of the carrier the articles are separated bytwo solid plies of material. The hinge connections between the crosspartition panels and the center longitudinal partition are reinforced bythe depending portions 81, 82 and 83, 84 of the inner handle panel 56and the outer reinforcing handle panel 69 as shown in FIGURES 2 and 5.

The blanks for the carriers may be cut in an economical manner from acontinuous web of the paperboard or other blank forming material as aresult of the arrangement of the partition panels and the handle panelswhich enable the blanks to be nested, as shown in FIGURE 6, with only avery little waste of the blank forming material.

While particular materials and specific details of construction havebeen referred to in describing the form of the carrier illustrated, itwill be understood that other materials and other details ofconstruction may be resorted to within the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A collapsible cellular bottle carrier comprising, when set up, a pairof foldable bottom forming panels, upstanding side wall forming panelshinged along the outer side edges of the bottom panels, end wall formingpanels hingedly connecting the vertical edges of the side wall panels,and a partition and handle forming structure extending between theopposite end walls, said partition and handle structure comprising apair of longitudinal partition and cross partition forming panels eachintegrally hinged to the vertical edges of the end wall panels at theone end of the carrier and extending in face contacting relation towardthe other end of the carrier, relatively narrow longitudinal partitionpanels integrally hinged to the vertical edges of the end wall panels atsaid other end of the carrier and connected to said first mentionedlongitudinal partition and cross partition forming panels, one of saidfirst mentioned longitudinal partition and cross partition formingpanels having an end panel portion which is folded back upon said onelongitudinal partition and cross partition forming panel about avertical hinge line and forms a reinforcing panel for the same, crosspartition forming panels cut from said first mentioned longitudinalpartition and cross partition forming panels and from said reinforcingpanel and hinged in cross partition forming relation thereto, said crosspartition forming panels having integrally hinged glue tabs on theirfree ends which are connected to the side wall forming panels, and saidreinforcing panel extending at least to the longitudinal center of thecarrier and providing a separating panel covering the cut out areas ofthe first mentioned longitudinal partition panels which result fromcutting the cross partition forming panels therefrom.

2. A collapsible cellular bottle carrier comprising, when set up, afoldable bottom wall, upstanding side walls hinged along the side edgesof the bottom wall, foldable end walls hingedly connecting the verticaledges of the side walls, and a partition and handle structure extendingbetween and connecting the end walls along the longitudinal center ofthe carrier, said partition and handle structure comprising a pair ofrelatively long longitudinal partition panels integrally hinged to theend wall at one end of the carrier and extending in face contactingrelation toward the other end of the carrier, relatively narrow verticalpanels integrally hinged to the end wall at said other end of thecarrier and connected to said longitudinal partition panels, one of saidlongitudinal partition panels having an end extension which is foldedback upon said one longitudinal partition panel about a vertical hingeline and forms a reinforcing panel therefor, cross partition panels cutfrom said longitudinal partition panels and said reinforcing panel andhinged into transverse planes on opposite sides of said longitudinalpartition and handle structure, said cross partition panels havinghingedly connected tabs which are secured to the side walls, and saidreinforcing panel providing a separating panel in the cut out areas ofthe longitudinal parti tion panels which result from cutting the crosspartition panels therefrom.

3. A carrier as recited in claim 2, and a handle structure comprisinginner and outer handle panels folded upon themselves so as to encompassthe top margins of the longitudinal partition panels and havingdepending portions which extend downwardly of the top edges of the crosspartition panels along the hinge connections of the cross partitionpanels with the longitudinal partition structure and reinforce the same.

4. A carrier as recited in claim 2, and a handle structure whichcomprises foldable panels connected on a vertical hinge line to the oneend of the longitudinal partition structure and overlying the uppermarginal portions of the panels in the longitudinal partition structurewith depending portions extending below the top ends of the hingeconnections of the cross partition panels with the longitudinalpartition panels and lying along said hinge connections so as toreinforce the same.

5. A cellular paperboard article carrier having, when set up, a foldablebottom wall, upstanding side walls hinged to the opposite edges of thebottom wall, end walls hinged to the end edges of the side walls and alongitudinal partition and handle structure connecting the middleportions of the end walls, said longitudinal partition and handlestructure comprising a pair of main longitudinal partition panels hingedto one end wall and secured in face-to-face relation, one of said mainlongitudinal partition panels extending substantially the full length ofthe carrier and having a reinforcing panel portion on the end oppositethe hinged connection thereof with the end wall which is folded backabout a vertical hinge line and secured in face engaging relation withthe adjoining portions of said main longitudinal partition panel so thatthe inner end thereof extends to at least the center of the carrier, apair of cross partitions cut from the one main longitudinal partitionpanel and hinged into parallel transverse planes on one side of saidlongitudinal partition and handle structure, a pair of cross partitionscut from the other one of said main longitudinal partition panels andfrom the reinforcing panel portion thereon and hinged into said paralleltransverse planes on the opposite side of said longitudinal partitionand handle structure, said cross partitions having their outer endshingedly connected to the side walls and said longitudinal partitionreinforcing panel portion extending in the panel areas from which thecross partitions are cut so as to cover the apertures resulting fromcutting out said cross partitions and thereby separate the articles inthe adjacent cells.

6. A cellular paperboard article carrier as recited in claim 5, and saidlongitudinal partition and handle structure including foldable inner andouter handle forming panels having their lower marginal portions securedin encompassing relation over the top marginal portions of saidlongitudinal partition panels.

7. A cellular paperboard article carrier as recited in claim 6, and saidhandle forming panels having hinge reinforcing, downwardly extending tabportions which are secured to the longitudinal partition panels adjacentthe hinge connections of the cross partitions with said longitudinalpartition panels at both sides of the longitudinal partition and handlestructure.

8. A blank for a cellular article carrier which is cut and creased toprovide a bottom forming section divided by a longitudinally extendingmedial crease line into a pair of foldable bottom panels, side wall andpartition forming sections extending on opposite sides of the bottomforming section which are divided by longitudinally spaced, transverselyextending, parallel crease lines into end wall panels at opposite endsof the side wall panels, the end wall panels at one end of the blankhaving relatively narrow, longitudinal partition connecting panels attheir end margins which are separated therefrom by hinge formingtransverse crease lines, longitudinal partition panels extending fromthe end wall panels at the other end of the blank in the longitudinaldirection thereof, the blank being cut away in the areas between the endwalls and the adjoining longitudinal partition panels at this end of theblank, cross partition panels cut from the longitudinal partition panelsso as to hinge out of the plane of these panels about transverse creaselines which are spaced equal distances from the crease line separatingsaid longitudinal partition panels from the adjoining end wall panels,the one longitudinal partition panel having an end portion which isfoldable about a transverse crease line spaced from the edge of theadjoining end wall panel a distance corresponding to the length of aside wall panel and which is slightly more than half the length of theremainder of said longitudinal partition panel, and one of said crosspartition panels being cut largely from said end portion and hingedabout a transverse crease line extending in said end portion.

9. A blank for an article carrier as recited in claim 8, and a handleforming section at one side margin of the blank which is cut free of theadjoining side and end wall panels and separated at one end from alaterally extending portion of the longitudinal partition by a hingeforming crease line which is aligned with the transverse crease lineseparating the longitudinal partition from the adjoining end wall panel.

10. A blank for an article carrier as recited in claim 9, and saidhandle forming section being divided into inner and outer handle panelsby a longitudinally extending crease line which is parallel with andextends outwardly 8 of the outer side edges of the adjoining side walland longitudinal partition panels.

11. A blank for an article carrier as recited in claim 10, and saidhandle forming section having inner and outer handle reinforcing panelsseparated from the corresponding handle panels by aligned transversecrease and cutting lines, respectively, and separated from each other bya longitudinally extending hinge forming crease line.

12. A blank for an article carrier as recited in claim 11, and saidinner handle panel and outer handle reinforcing panel having tab formingportions extending from their inner and outer edges, respectively, withcorresponding transversely extending edges spaced apart in thelongitudinal direction of the blank a distance approximately one thirdthe length of the side wall panels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,606,712 Kowal Aug. 12, 1962 2,634,043 Arneson Apr. 7, 1953 2,687,232Arneson Aug. 24, 1954 2,688,421 Forrer Sept. 7, 1954 2,754,028 BerbsteinJuly 10, 1956

1. A COLLAPSIBLE CELLULAR BOTTLE CARRIER COMPRISING, WHEN SET UP, A PAIROF FOLDABLE BOTTOM FORMING PANELS, UPSTANDING SIDE WALL FORMING PANELSHINGED ALONG THE OUTER SIDE EDGES OF THE BOTTOM PANELS, END WALL FORMINGPANELS HINGEDLY CONNECTING THE VERTICAL EDGES OF THE SIDE WALL PANELS,AND A PARTITION AND HANDLE FORMING STRUCTURE EXTENDING BETWEEN THEOPPOSITE END WALLS, SAID PARTITION AND HANDLE STRUCTURE COMPRISING APAIR OF LONGITUDINAL PARTITION AND CROSS PARTITION FORMING PANELS EACHINTEGRALLY HINGED TO THE VERTICAL EDGES OF THE END WALL PANELS AT THEONE END OF THE CARRIER AND EXTENDING IN FACE CONTACTING RELATION TOWARDTHE OTHER END OF THE CARRIER, RELATIVELY NARROW LONGITUDINAL PARTITIONPANELS INTEGRALLY HINGED TO THE VERTICAL EDGES OF THE END WALL PANELS ATSAID OTHER END OF THE CARRIER AND CONNECTED TO SAID FIRST MENTIONEDLONGITUDINAL PARTITION AND CROSS PARTITION FORMING PANELS, ONE OF SAIDFIRST MENTIONED LONGITUDINAL PARTITION AND CROSS PARTITION FORMINGPANELS HAVING AN END PANEL PORTION AND CROSS PARTITION FORMING PANELABOUT A VERTICAL HINGE LINE AND FORMS A REINFORCING PANEL FOR THE SAME,CROSS PARTITION FORMING PANELS CUT FROM SAID FIRST MENTIONEDLONGITUDINAL PARTITION AND CROSS PARTITION FORMING PANELS AND FROM SAIDREINFORCING PANEL AND HINGED IN CROSS PARTITION FORMING RELATIONTHERETO, SAID CROSS PARTITION FORMING PANELS HAVING INTEGRALLY HINGEDGLUE TABS ON THEIR FREE ENDS WHICH ARE CONNECTED TO THE SIDE WALLFORMING PANELS, AND SAID REINFORCING PANEL EXTENDING AT LEAST TO THELONGITUDINAL CENTER OF THE CARRIER AND PROVIDING A SEPARATING PANELCOVERING THE CUT OUT AREAS OF THE FIRST MENTIONED LONGITUDINAL PARTITIONPANELS WHICH RESULT FROM CUTTING THE CROSS PARTITION FORMING PANELSTHEREFROM.